Staff MemberPremium Member

OnLive is a cloud based gaming service that was just (officially and globally) launched about a month ago, and is already starting to take off. We've shared about it previously, but just in cased you missed it, the concept is that games are streamed in real-time from servers instead of running directly on your hardware. This makes the games hardware independent, thus able to be run on any mobile streaming device, so you could be gaming on a tablet, while your buddy is playing with you on his smartphone or other device. From this new announcement it looks as if the "other device" will be a Google TV, as it was just announced that the OnLive gaming app is being developed for the Google TV. Here's a quote from SlashGear with some more details,

The app will use the Universal OnLive Wireless Controller announced last week, hooking up to the TV or Google TV STB directly. The first 30 minutes of most of OnLive’s 200 games will apparently be free to try, with per-title purchases supported after that; alternatively, there’ll be the subscription-based OnLive PlayPack Bundle for unlimited access to more than 140 of the cloud-based games.

Vizio will be showing off a playable version of OnLive on Google TV as part of its V.I.A. Plus smart TV system at CES 2012 this week, and you can bet we’ll be headed over to see if we can take part in some cloud gaming fun today. The app is expected to be preloaded onto future Google TV sets and adapters.

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You can check out more info about this subject at our dedicated sister-site at GoogleTVForum.org!

I just looked at their website and they have a pretty decent amount of titles available, and they aren't all old titles. not bad, but sadly I don't have much gaming time these days. Two kids will do that.

the only thing bad about this idea is what about those with very poor (especially if you'd use 3g wifi tethering) or no internet connection at all?
<<<off topic rant>>>
it seems as if google is getting to be all about storing things via the cloud and streaming but mobile carriers like Verizon and att are all about limiting mobile data...anyone else see somewhat of a conflict here???

I've been a member of OnLive for over a year and have truly enjoyed it. Yes, you need a decent connection... but at the same time they have improved performance over the last year and require less bandwidth. I believe it is there intent to get it to work on even 1mb connections. Anyone concerned about whether it will work or not can sign up, it's free. Once signed up you can test any game they offer for a half hour. You're not testing in a demo, but the real game so what you experience is what you'll get. Keep an eye out for sales... they have some of the best deals on the web.

Staff MemberPremium Member

Can you guys that use the OnLive service comment further on how smooth it is. I am a bit skeptical about the amount of lag (from latency) you would experience streaming a game across the web. As Scotty might say to Captain Kirk, "I cannae change tha laws o physics!"

My personal experience is that the lag that is there is almost non existent. I have played a lot of Borderlands Multiplayer and never noticed any lag.

Its free to sign up and once signed up you have full access to try any of the games on the service for a half hour. After a half hour you can purchase it, or start another half hour session starting over from the beginning. Everyone's taste and network connection may vary, but this is a great way to see how it runs for you.